Vignette Six - Wedding Dust
by jellybean49
Summary: Celebrate with Jack and Elizabeth. What's a wedding without a little dust.


**Dear Readers, this is my 6** **th** **Vignette. Like my story of Jack's proposal, this one is also just this one chapter and a complete short story. I hope you enjoy it.**

Wedding Dust

Elizabeth quietly moved her legs over the side of the bed, trying to make as little noise as possible as she set down her feet on the plush carpet. She was grateful that the mattress and bed hadn't creaked when she stood up, and that the carpeting would muffle the sound of her footsteps.

Careful not to trip over the shoes and clothes scattered on the floor, she made her way across the hotel room using the dawning sunlight as her guide. When she came to her crumpled wedding dress, she bent down and picked up the yards of white fabric, now wrinkled and with a small wine stain across the front of the bodice.

She glanced towards the sleeping male figure in the bed, who was sprawled on the mattress, his arms spread out in comfortable slumber as he lay on his stomach, his naked shoulder muscles and strong back left uncovered by the sheet which just grazed his hips.

Before tossing her wedding dress on the nearby chair, she reached into the small concealed pocket sewn into the waistband. Taking out the dried flower petals, she carefully laid them on the dresser. When she got back home, she would return them to her jewelry box, where they usually remained. The flower had long ago lost its scent and silky feel, but she still carried a few petals with her when she went on long trips, ever since Jack had given her the once fresh bloom on their first night of courting.

Elizabeth entered the bathroom, and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed that her normally pale skin was slightly red from the friction of Jack's beard stubble that had already grown since yesterday's shave.

She picked up her hairbrush and sat on the cold toilet seat, shivering a little at the feeling of the porcelain against her bare skin. Earlier, the chambermaid had unpacked her belongings and placed her robe, a wedding gift from her mother, on a hook on the back of the door; Elizabeth now reached for it, wrapping herself in the thin silk.

Sitting back down, she began to run the brush gently through her hair, barely aware of what she was doing as her mind went over what had transpired in the other room . . . the discarded clothes on the floor, the sheets rumpled and pulled from the edges of the bed where earlier they had been so neatly tucked by the maids as they had readied the room for the new guests, the candles were burned down to stubs after having done their duty of casting a romantic glow and allowing for a tiny bit of modesty.

The first time they had been together last night, alone after the wedding ceremony, they had both been nervous. Despite months of anticipation and longing, they had suddenly felt shy with each other. He was so concerned and gentle that her skin had been on edge, too alert for every touch she anticipated. Afterwards, as she lay next to his sleeping body, she thought about touching him, about wanting him to touch her again.

Slowly, she had begun to run her hands along his chest. When he hadn't moved, she had gently trailed kisses along his arm, moving her lips upwards from the gold band on his left ring finger to his bare shoulder.

When he had sleepily stirred, she moved her lips to his ear and whispered, "I want to do it again".

Elizabeth realized that there was no quicker way to get a man's attention than that simple phrase.

If the first time together had been interesting and new, the second time was . . . . well, it was . . . _Oh my, it was very very nice_ was all Elizabeth could think without beginning to blush. She wasn't quite sure how they had so quickly gotten over their inhibitions, but she had certainly enjoyed it.

After that second time together, they had fallen asleep, enclosed in each other's arms, only to be awoken two hours later. The sound of something hitting the window pane had roused her from her sleep.

Initially, she had been confused as to where she was, and the sound of a man breathing beside her had momentarily startled her. Looking at the clock by her bedside, she realized that it was only 3:00 in the morning, hours before they needed to be up for breakfast.

Walking to the window, led by moonlight path on the carpet, she discovered that the sound she had heard was merely a branch hitting the glass as the wind blew a thin tree limb back and forth.

She had climbed back into bed, and moved her back against her husband's chest, snuggling her bare skin against him for extra warmth and comfort. He sleepily murmured something and reached his arm around her, holding her gently against him.

Elizabeth lightly stroked her fingers along his arm, thinking that he would fall back into a deep slumber.

This time, she didn't need to say anything to get his attention; her naked warm body against his was enough.

This time, it was his mouth that moved on her body. He gently shifted her hair across her shoulder, and placed his smooth lips on her neck before moving them gradually down her spine. His hands roamed her body as he murmured his thoughts to her.

Thirty minutes later, they were breathless. They lay side by side, too hot and covered in perspiration to have their bodies touch anymore.

 _Oh my,_ _no one could have explained that to me!_ She wasn't sure that what they had done was even legal! _Did other people do that?!_

 _It was so . . . so. . . . . .so . . no one ever told me that he could do that with his hands ! We should have gotten married months ago!_

Even Jack, as he lay exhausted on the rumpled sheet, seemed awed by what had just transpired. He had to agree with her; the third time was most definitely the best.

Now, just a few hours later, as she sat in the bathroom, alone for the first time since yesterday, she thought with pleased astonishment _, I_ _don't know how we're ever going to get a full night of sleep if this is what married life is like!. . . . Married! I'm Mrs. Jack Thornton. I've been a married woman for 10 hours!_

Elizabeth paused with the hairbrush in hand, looking at the band of gold on her finger, she replayed the wedding in her mind.

It had been perfect; small, simple, elegant. There had been no business associates, no stuffy rules of etiquette; just family and close friends celebrating their happiness. It had all started 11 hours earlier.

 **11 hours earlier**

" **Mother, stop worrying." Elizabeth said to her mother for third time.**

" **It will get here in time. She has to come from across town, and she may be arriving in a meat wagon so her husband may have had to make other stops."**

" **A meat wagon?!" Grace exclaimed in shock. "You're getting your wedding dress from a meat wagon?!"**

 **Elizabeth laughed. "The seamstress's husband drives the delivery wagon for a butcher shop. Stop worrying."**

" **I don't know how you can be so calm. This is all so exciting. A rushed wedding away from home! Like a romance novel!" Julie piped in.**

" **As long as there's no** _ **need**_ **for it to be rushed", Viola added suspiciously as she looked at Elizabeth's stomach with raised eyebrows.**

" **Viola!" Elizabeth admonished her. "The only reason to have the wedding now is because we love each other and see no reason to wait. Stop with your scandalous thoughts."**

 **"But why here, in Ottawa?"**

 **"I told you already. Jack and I were here visiting, his friends are here, mother and father were here on business. It just makes sense". Elizabeth rolled her eyes in humorous exasperation at Viola, and gave Julie a knowing smile. Julie knew all too well how Viola could be.**

 **The knock on the door stopped any further bickering.**

 **When the seamstress entered with the dress, Grace Thornton sighed with relief, and hurriedly had Elizabeth put it on while the other woman stood ready with needle and thread. True to her word, the deliveryman's wife was an excellent seamstress; the dress fit perfectly.**

 **Another knock on the door announced the arrival of the chambermaids, who came to gather Elizabeth's things and move them to the honeymoon suite. As the maids emptied out the closet and dresser drawers, Elizabeth paused from arranging her hair.**

" **Not the small brown paper bag, and not the ring box", she instructed the women.**

 **Retrieving the ring box from the top of her dresser, Elizabeth handed it to Julie, and reminded her not to lose it. Jack and Elizabeth had quickly purchased the rings yesterday and Elizabeth was already attached to the small gold ring nestled in the box, waiting to be placed on Jack's finger.**

 **As Julie and her mother pinned on her veil, Elizabeth wondered what Jack was doing.**

 **Her earlier telegrams to her family in Hamilton and to Tom in Port McNeill, even before she had had a chance to tell Jack about the wedding date, had given them time to travel to the ceremony.**

 **Port McNeill was so far away that Elizabeth hadn't been sure that Tom could make it in time so she had kept her telegram to him a secret from Jack. When Tom showed up at the hotel, directly from the train station, just two hours before the ceremony, Jack had been shocked.**

" **Impossible! You could not have made it in time. I just telegrammed you yesterday afternoon!", Jack had exclaimed in thrilled surprise.**

" **Well, it's a good think you're marrying someone as organized as Elizabeth because she telegrammed me the day before that, big brother. I am not about to let you get married without me by your side," Tom had said to Jack's delight.**

 **While the women got ready in Elizabeth's room, the men were upstairs in the honeymoon suite, where Jack had already moved his belongings.**

 **The third knock on the door was Elizabeth's father announcing that it was time.**

 **Viola handed Elizabeth her bouquet of flowers, purchased from the street vendor a few blocks away, and tied with a long white satin ribbon courtesy of the seamstress.**

 **As William Thatcher held out his arm for his daughter, she first moved across the room and dipped her right hand into the small brown bag, running her palm across the contents. When she had originally purchased the contents, she had planned on giving them to her students, but she couldn't resist using a bit at the wedding ceremony.**

 **Entering the flower-filled hotel solarium, Elizabeth was glad that she had chosen this beautiful and intimate spot. There was no long aisle to walk down, no rows of barely-known acquaintances Elizabeth and Jack didn't recognize, just family and close friends, all smiling broadly.**

 **Through the row of large glass windows around them, they could see the carefully manicured gardens, where some of the daily blooms were just starting to close up their petals for the evening, while others remained upright, proudly showing off their array of colors.**

 **The horizon over the gardens was a stunning orange and pink with long swaths of billowing clouds stretching across it, as if Jack had taken out his brushes and painted the setting sun just for them.**

 **The ceremony was short; they didn't need long words to pledge themselves to each other. They knew they already belonged to one another.**

 **When the justice announced them husband and wife, Jack's hand gently held hers as he gazed at her for a moment, before his face broke into a smile and their lips met.**

 **As they accepted congratulations from those around them, Elizabeth gave Jack a mischievous grin and looked at their entwined hands. Jack looked at her curiously before opening his hand and looking at his palm. When he saw the white dust, his face broke into a knowing smile.**

" **Chalk dust. To remind me of when we met", he said, thinking of the first time they spoke when he had come down the steps of the saloon to find her writing on the blackboard.**

" **Now, you'll never feel cheated", she said with a grin.**

 **With his own mischievous grin, Jack motioned for her to look at her own hand.**

 **Elizabeth looked down, expecting to see the same white chalk dust, but was surprised to see that she had picked up some black dust from his palm. This time it was her face that broke into a knowing smile when she realized that it was coal dust.**

" **To remind me of the first time we said I love you", she said, thinking of their time in the coal mine, which had sheltered them from the rain and from fears and insecurities.**

 **Jack chuckled. "I said it plenty of times before that to you, but that was the first time I was brave enough to actually say it aloud."**

 **As the guests took their seats at the linen-draped table, and the waiters entered with silver trays of food, Jack gently pulled Elizabeth behind the stone fountain for a moment of privacy. The gurgling of the water drowned out the sound of his voice to everyone but Elizabeth.**

" **I love you", he said tenderly, cupping her face. "You will always be the one for me."**

" **I love you, too", she said softly as she gently kissed his lips.**

" **I love you, Jack Thornton", she whispered to him once more before they turned to rejoin their guests, knowing she would never get tired of saying it.**

 **Sitting around the table, the guests were enjoying their meals and the soft sounds of the violinist playing quietly from across the room, when Mr. Thatcher stood up and raised his glass.**

" **I'd like to make a toast. . . I am very proud of what Elizabeth has done with her life. Her mother and I have spent many nights worried about her and we selfishly hoped she would give up on teaching out west and return to us. But Elizabeth is stubborn. She doesn't like to be told what to do. She doesn't like to be told 'no' and she doesn't like to be underestimated. She is also headstrong to the point of being reckless but she knows what she wants and she's not afraid to go after it. I'd like to make a toast. To the bravest person in the room. . . "**

 **Elizabeth began to blush as everyone raised their glasses.**

" **. . . to Jack Thornton, for marrying Elizabeth!"**

 **Everyone laughed and raised their glasses in a toast to Jack, and Tom gave him a hearty clap on the back.**

 **Jack stood up and cleared his throat before speaking.**

" **When I got to Coal Valley, I was determined to do my tour there and then move on to my next assignment. I thought I had my life all planned out. . . and then . . . I ran into Trouble."**

 **When he said the word "trouble", Jack looked at Elizabeth with a smile. The guests all broke into laughter. Even Elizabeth giggled.**

" **And she turned my life upside down. . . and made me dream of things I hadn't thought were in my future.**

 **A long time ago, I painted a picture of the two of us as part of a backdrop for a play. I think I knew even then, before we had ever courted, that I was painting her in a white dress because I imagined her as my wife one day."**

 **When he said that about the dress, Elizabeth smiled and she felt her heart give a little flip.**

" **I am eternally grateful to her father for having me sent to Coal Valley. I know that if he hadn't had me sent there, Elizabeth and I would have met anyway, . . . somewhere, somehow. . . . Somehow, we would have ended up together because we are meant to be together. This way, it just happened quicker** **."**

 **Jack smiled as he leaned down and gave her a kiss, his words having caused Elizabeth's eyes to fill with tears.**

 **Julie stood up and addressed the guests next.**

" **From the first time I met Jack, I was hoping they would end up married. I helped Jack arrange his first dinner with Elizabeth," she declared proudly, as if she were the matchmaker solely responsible for their love.**

" **I sometimes wonder why it took them so long to get to this point today, but other times, I realize how stubborn and proud they both are, and, quite frankly, I surprised they got here this quickly!", she added with amazement, causing the crowd to chuckle in agreement.**

 **Jack winked at Julie. "Thank you for helping that night."**

 **Elizabeth spoke next.**

" **Well, I'd like to tell you all a little about how we got here. The first meal we ate together, Jack insulted me and told me that my dress was too tight and he teased me about my black eye."**

 **At that comment, Mrs. Thatcher gave a startled questioning look to Elizabeth.**

 **Elizabeth just smiled and continued.**

" **The second meal was in a rowboat and he laughed about my reputation that I lacked cooking skills."**

 **This comment brought several sniggers from the guests.**

" **The third meal was after he paid me a compliment but that was only after I had to tell him to do so! "**

" **I said you were beautiful!" Jack exclaimed in his defense.**

" **Only after your first compliment was dreadfully boring", Elizabeth retorted playfully.**

" **Finally, our fourth meal was the one that Julie helped arrange. . . If you ask Jack when I first began to fall in love with him, he would probably say it was the fourth meal. That was the romantic meal with candlelight and flowers and music. . . But truthfully, it was long before that. I was already infatuated with him before we even finished our supper that very first night at Abigail's. I sat there in my too tight dress, my hair a mass of unruly curls, sporting a black eye, while he sat there being infuriatingly handsome and charming , . . . and all night I found myself wondering what it would be like to have dinner with him again . . . . without Abigail there."**

 **Elizabeth had never told Jack that before, and he looked pleased at the confession.**

 **Jack leaned over and whispered into Elizabeth's ear. "Now I have a confession to make. I accused you of being happy to see me that night, but the truth is that when I showed up for supper at Abigail's, and you answered the door, I was thrilled. "**

" **I've suspected as much", Elizabeth laughingly responded.**

 **Elizabeth and Jack beamed as the guests went around the table, everyone taking a turn at making a toast. Laughter filled the room as Jack's brother and friends told stories about him.**

 **By the time the cake was served, the sun had set long ago and the windows framed the beautiful star-filled sky.**

Elizabeth's thoughts of last evening's wedding were interrupted by the sound of stirring in the bedroom. Glancing past the slightly ajar door, she noticed that Jack was getting out of bed and putting on his sleeping pants. Quickly, she stood up and reached for her toothbrush.

"Good morning", Jack said as he pushed the door open and entered the bathroom, running his hand through his hair and yawning.

Sleepily, he picked up his toothbrush and then reached for the toothpaste.

"Should we order room service or go out for breakfast?", he asked with another yawn as he stretched, and then ran a hand along the stubble of his chin.

Elizabeth hadn't known what to expect when they saw each other in daylight after spending the night together. Maybe romance . . . or nervousness . . . or shyness. But certainly not this. . . this casual bored attitude Jack was presenting!

 _I might as well be another Mountie sharing his barracks with him!_ _,_ she thought in disbelief.

When she didn't immediately respond, he looked at her curiously.

"Breakfast?", he asked again.

""Whatever you want. . . You decide", she said hesitantly, still bewildered by his cavalier attitude.

"Okay, maybe we'll order in. I'll check the menu", he replied.

 _Food? All he can think about is food after what he did . . .after what I did . . . after what WE did last night?!,_ she thought incredulously _._

"Sleep well?", he asked after a moment.

At least that's what she thought he asked; it was hard to be sure because his mouth was so full of toothpaste.

"Yes. . . you?", she asked politely.

"Not really" ", Jack said casually as he spit his toothpaste into the sink.

". . . . My wife kept stealing the covers", he added before he continued brushing.

Elizabeth stood there stunned for a moment before she saw the twinkle in his eyes.

"Excuse me, but I'm not used to sharing a bed with someone else", she responded with raised eyebrows as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"Good to know", he replied with a grin.

This time, she couldn't keep a giggle from escaping.

"Do you have any plans for today?", he asked in an unconcerned voice as he reached across her to get a glass.

She felt a tingle of excitement go through her at his closeness, her eyes taking in his bare chest. _He's playing with me on purpose!_

"No . . .Do you?" , she asked as she began to braid her hair. _I can be just as nonchalant as him!_

"A few plans", he responded to her question.

Without volunteering any more information about his plans, he filled the glass with tap water and took a sip.

"Like what?", she asked, trying to act disinterested, although her curiosity was piqued.

Jack smiled a mischievous grin and set down the glass on the edge of the sink.

"Teaching my wife how to share a bed", he said as he reached for her.

Elizabeth squealed and ran from the room, laughing as he chased after her.

Gently grabbing her by the waist, Jack picked her up and carried her to the bed. She stopped giggling as he laid her back against the mattress and she looked up at him. Just inches separated their faces as he lowered himself down to her.

"This is how we share a bed", he told her huskily as he ran a finger along her lips.

"I think we did a very good job last night", she whispered seductively

"Oh we most certainly did."

Later, the sun now high in the sky, Jack lay with his back against the mattress. His one hand rested on his wife's back, while his other hand gently stroked her hair as her head lay on his chest.

At various times during their courtship and engagement, he had wondered about this moment. About being Elizabeth's husband. He had worried that he might disappoint her in some way. He had wondered if he would ever know if she was entirely comfortable with her decision to marry him, to change her lifestyle, to give up her wealth, for him.

Now he smiled. The fact that she was lying completely naked on top of him while she peacefully slept as if her body and soul were made for Jack, told him everything he needed to know.

The End of Vignette Six

 **Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed it! Check out Vignette 7, "The Rules of Being a Wife" for more on Jack and Elizabeth!**


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